A Day at the County Fair

Macky & The Queen in The Fun House

Now that things have seemingly calmed down around here, I decided it was time to take the kids out for an adventure. The annual county fair was in town and, regrettably, our children have never been to a fair. But we are still very tight on money from the fire. Living paycheck to paycheck continues to be status quo for now. Nevertheless, I took this opportunity to teach the kids yet another lesson: how to come up with money when you really want to do something.

We sat down and wrote ideas on how to raise the $60 we would need to get into the fair. Sell homemade soap, garage sales and mowing lawns were offered up...among other things. Since time was of the essence, I chose to sell some of our meager silver savings. Around 11pm on Friday night, I posted an advertisement on CraigsList offering my silver Walking Liberties at spot prices. I stated in the ad that I was looking to raise funds to take my kids to the fair. I had a response by 7am the next morning.

Walking Liberties and Buffaloes we sold.

I met a nice seasoned couple around 10am in the Sizzler parking lot and sold them $200 worth of coins. Good thing I brought some extras. They were as gracious as I was and we both went on our way. This was enough for admission to the fair and a few things that I felt every child (and teenager!) should experience at a fair...all six girls had a terrific time enjoying the following hallmarks of a good fair while Wifey and I sat back and watched:

• enjoyed a bowl of Dippin' Dots (the BEST ice cream EVAR!)

 

• got lost in the House of Mirrors

• laughed their way through a Fun House

• screamed their way through the House of Horrors

• slobbered over deep fried Oreos and butter cups

• learned that money can be earned by raising 4H animals

 

• practice the art of making a fly fishing lure

Yes honey, it IS harder than it looks.

We were guided through several buildings of 4H animals by a young man we knew from church. He had a large hog that sold for $1400. He was able to share with the girls a lot of the details of what goes into purchasing and raising each type of animal.  You could see their amazement when he shared that he spent a total of around $600 for his hog which led to an equal $800 profit. He explained to the girls how he was going to divide up his profit:

• some goes to buy the next animal for the next 4H competition
• some goes to his college fund (he's in 8th grade now)
• and some goes to his church mission fund

He was allowing himself just a little for splurge spending. What a terrific lesson for my girls!

Flower learns Fly Tying!

They saw a good 30+ breeds of chickens, llamas, turkeys, bulls, pigs, goats and sheep. I'm sure I'm forgetting some animals. We missed the day of the actual auctions but I explained to my girls how it all worked. I recanted how my mom and I used to make desserts and enter them in the State Fair of Oklahoma when I was a child. I think we won one time with our coconut log rolls.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and I can guarantee they'll never forget their first trip to the fair. I used to get the silver coins out on occasion and let them play with the shiny trinkets as they clanked around on the floor. I was attempting to teach them about savings. The coins taught me a much bigger lesson this time...it's wise to save for the future but it is equally wise to enjoy the limited time you have with your children in a way you won't soon forget.

~OJD